Dear Parents and Friends,

A busy weekend followed some successful football fixtures at Charterhouse and King Edward’s, Witley. On Saturday morning I was pleased to welcome the Mayor of Croydon and a number of local residents to the Croydon Neighbourhood Watch Conference. On Sunday, Madden and St Andrew’s boys enjoyed blasting Mr Stathopolous, Mr Parham and Mr James on their paintballing adventure, and the boarders enjoyed a high speed boat trip on the fastest boat on the Thames! There was also a full play rehearsal for ‘Wind in the Willows’, the School production which runs on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday next week. Year 12 have had their heads down during the middle of this week as they completed their ‘Ten Week Tests’ to give some feedback on their academic performance during the first half of this important term. Our focus in Chapel on Tuesday was Anti-Bullying Week, with a thoughtful presentation led by the Student Council. My thanks to Mrs Thomas-Webb and all the Student Council members who presented this so well. James Aston and Anahad Saluja were today attending a Croydon Anti-Bullying Conference as part of a Croydon Schools initiative. Linked to this theme, the Department for Education published ‘Advice for Parents on Cyberbullying’ this week. This is an excellent reference document for any parents concerned about this growing challenge and can be accessed on the DfE website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads On Wednesday this week we were pleased to welcome David McAlmont to give the Sixth Form lecture. David will be known to many of you as an outstanding vocalist and students were delighted with his performance of ‘Diamonds are Forever’. Parents will be sad to hear that Janice Martin, my PA, sadly passed away this week after a prolonged illness. Prayers were held in Chapel for Janice on Thursday lunchtime. Oxford House led our Chapel service this evening and told the story of ‘I’m from Oxford’ to a congregation of students, parents and friends. Music was played by Aksultan Auyen, Dhillon Sen, Arios Hu, Jason Lin and Farhoud Pishnamazi before the Oxford Boys’ Choir sang an excellent rendition of ‘Lean on Me’ with Flynn Marks as soloist. My congratulations to all involved on a warm and inspiring service. An outline of a new Breakfast Club for our day pupils, starting in January 2015 is included later in this newsletter. An e-mail will be sent with to all parents early next week with further details. Tomorrow we welcome the Old Russellians for their Committee Meeting ahead of the 1853 Society Christmas Fair, which runs from 1pm to 4pm in Great Hall and Dining Room. I know that a huge team of parents and staff have been preparing over the last few weeks for this event and I would particularly like to thank the team who have helped to set up Great Hall and Dining Hall in preparation for the event tomorrow. I look forward to seeing many of you there. With Best Wishes,

Chris Hutchinson

Headmaster

Royal Russell

School

Headmaster’s

Weekly Newsletter

21 November 2014

From the Chapel This week the Student Council presented Chapel services on the theme of anti-bullying. The commandment to love your neighbour, as well as St Paul’s insight that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, indicate the need to respect everyone.

Bible Quote "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good." (Romans 12: 9) Submitted by Chapel Warden Oleg Falkov. Warden Georgia comments: This quote teaches us that it is essential to focus on the good and not the difficult emotions, which can make yourself and those around you feel particularly negative. By focusing on positive feelings, particular that of love and friendship, it may be easier to face difficult times ahead. The Chaplain adds: The verse which follows this is a powerful statement against bullying [see above]: “In brotherly love … regard others as more important than yourself.”

Chapel Quiz 27: What is the significance of 666?

Answer: 666 is the number of the beast in Revelation 13: 18, which was written about 95 A.D.

when the Roman Emperor Domitian was persecuting Christians. 666 may be a reference to the Roman Emporer Nero, who persecuted Christians in 64 A.D. If numbers are given to letters, corresponding to their place in the alphabet, the letters of Caesar Nero in Hebrew add up to 666. In Greek the letters of Caesar-God add up to 616, which is an alternative reading of the number. In the encyclical calling for the Fifth Crusade [which began in 1217], Pope Innocent III identified Muhammad with the beast. A better suggestion is that as 7 is a number that signified for Jews perfection and completeness [hence Creation in 7 days], 6 could mean imperfection and repeated 6s, evil.

Chapel Quiz 28: A Catherine wheel is a type of firework. Why does it have that name? A prize

to the pupil with the best answer.

Bible Typo: A Bible printed in 1914 listed “Thou shalt [omitting not] kill” as one of the Ten

Commandments.

Pupil Howler: The Popemobile [a bullet-proof car for the Pope] is fitted with a Catholic converter.

Chapel ServiceTomorrow: On November 22nd

the Church honours St Cecilia, who died as a martyr in Rome, c.230 A.D. She is the patroness of musicians. As the musicians played at her wedding she "sang in her heart to the Lord". May she inspire both the School’s music making and hymn singing!

St Cecilia [1606] by G. Reni

Sixth Form Assembly This week's assembly speaker was David McAlmont, professional singer, vocal coach and art historian who gave a really inspiring talk about achieving real success, as well as thrilling us with his rendition of diamonds are forever and his new single blackbirds. David has worked with Michael Nyman, and David Arnold as well as having a very successful pop career with McAlmont and Butler.

Boarders Ride the Fastest Boat on the Thames

The boarders enjoyed an afternoon tearing up and down the Thames accompanied by an amusing commentary and some Gangnam Style and Bond themes pumping out of the sound system and sightseeing.

Assembly to Year 11 by Nathan Brown, OR The importance of languages in professional services

On Friday 14th November, we were extremely pleased to welcome back Nathan Brown, Old Russellian, who talked to our Year 11 about the importance of languages in the professional services and global economy.

Nathan left Royal Russell 7 years ago after studying French, English and Geography at A level. He then went on to study at the prestigious LSE University. He is now employed in the world of Finance and has worked in well renowned companies already such as Goldman Sachs. He is currently working at Fidelity UK as a Banker.

Nathan connected really well with our Year 11 pupils, helping them understand how stocks work and the basis of his own work. He pointed out that more and more Britons find themselves in competition in global companies with a foreign workforce, which bring valuable language and cultural assets as well as connections to the company through their multicultural and linguistic backgrounds.

He reminded our pupils that in order to compete with them, it is becoming more and more essential to learn at least one foreign language at A level. Both his direct manager and senior director are French for example. For his recruitment he had to answer some questions in French and was able to show on his CV that at LSE he continued with some language modules.

It was a fascinating insight from a pupil who has clearly made it already in the world of work at the age of 26. What an achievement!

Merci Nathan for sharing your valuable experience with our young Russellians. I am sure that you have inspired them!

CINEMA LUMIERE “Les Gazelles” YEAR 12

INSTITUT FRANCAIS On Friday 14th November, ten Year 12 students and Mrs Mawer had the pleasure to meet the Director and the main actress of the film Les Gazelles in the Cinéma Lumière after its viewing.

The film depicted the life of five 30 year old Parisian women and, as well as being funny, was very truthful and an eye-opener.

The film, representing five female actresses as main characters is a breakthrough socially and culturally. It showed well how women have become more open to the world and do not settle for stability and comfort if happiness is not part of the deal.

Meeting both the actress Camille Chamoux and the Director Mona Achache was an excellent opportunity

for our students to communicate their thoughts and feelings about the film and ask many questions.

Une vraie chance!

Portrait Photographer Visit to Art and Design Last week, studio portrait photographer David Gee came to the Art Department to run a specialist workshop for our A level Photography students.

David Gee converted the art room into a photographic studio using many different backdrops, tungsten lights, soft boxes, reflectors and umbrellas etc. The students asked their friends to model for them and then directed the photo shoot accordingly, linking their ideas to the current unit of work. Katie Wright is looking at how women are perceived in the media, Laura Ellis is creating images inspired by Corinne Day, Hannah Yard is working on ideas of beauty, Harriet Alcindor’s work is about feminism, Oliver Dixon is interested in the techniques of artist Sebastian Del Grosso, Chloe Shirley’s work is concerned with narrative and Tori Hubbard is investigating the distorted portrait.

All of these digital images will be used in the students’ coursework portfolios and will be manipulated either by hand, using traditional art skills, or on the computer using Adobe Photoshop.

Image by Katie Wright

Image by Hannah Yard Image by Laura Ellis Image by Chloe Shirley

Image by Tori Hubbard Image by Oliver Dixon Image by Harriet Alcindor

News from Foodland

Year 11s are half way through their trials in order to make the perfect version of their chosen product. It is a scientific

approach of trialling, including full sensory evaluation methods which are needed to

help inform decisions.

Year 10 design ideas using their homemade jam. (below).

UP-COMING SCHOOL TRIP: Year 9s, 10s and 12s have a field research trip to ‘Foodies Christmas Festival’ and Shoreditch Box Park on the 28

th November 2014.

SENIOR FOOD CLUB - Years 10-13 Thursday 27th November – P13

Spanish Tapas

YEAR 7 CHRISTMAS DECORATION COMPETITION COMING SOON!!!

Above, A level students’ design ideas including roasted chicken, beef curry with pilaf, a healthier beef pasty and a creamy rich potato topped fish pie. Above right, Mrs. Saunders’ club for boarders.

Word of the Week

Audacious (adjective)

- Extremely brave, daring or fearless

- Inventive and original

How are these people audacious?

Amnesty Group ‘Write for Rights’

Royal Russell Amnesty Youth Group are working on the Amnesty

International campaign ‘Write for Rights’.

All students are encouraged to get involved and write letters. It

only takes a few minutes to write a card or letter, but this simple

human act can bring hope and comfort to people suffering human

rights issues.

The Group are holding a letter writing workshop in C26 during lunch on Tuesday 2nd December from

1.00 to 1.40pm.

Each student who writes a letter will receive an ‘Amnesty’ biscuit!

From the Sport Department

At the weekend both U12 and U13 football had strong wins against KES Whitley while in the afternoon 1XI, U15 and U14 played Charterhouse and came away with 2 draws and a loss.

Midweek senior football played Kingston Grammar School where Mr Dear’s battling 2XI were desperately unlucky and the opposition managed to scrape a draw.

U14A netball smashed Sydenham High, U14B could not quite match those heights, but the points average was still positive!

U18A and B beat Harris Crystal Palace on Wednesday.

All week we have hosted the Croydon Schools 5-a-side competitions.

The U12 boys are finalists (but ran out of time and that match has yet to be played)

The U13 and U14 boys won their competitions and the U13 girls were the winners of the plate competition.

This is an outstanding set of results, in 5 years of hosting these tournaments, no one school has ever won more than one individual event, they are normally spread throughout the borough.

A clear indication of the hard work of both staff and students alike.

U12 Team

U13 and U14 Team

All our Sport news can be found at www.royalrussellsport.co.uk

With an expanding fixture list to improve school sports, can parents please be aware that all

pupils, including Year 11, 12 and 13, will need to be available for Saturday fixtures from next

September 2015.

Please check out our Sports Website, which you can see via the address below and also follow us on

twitter @RRS_Sport

In response to pupil and parental demand, we are delighted to

offer a Breakfast Club from January 2015.

This new service includes a choice of a full cooked breakfast

with vegetarian options or a continental breakfast. Cereal, yogurt

and fruit are also available.

In order for your son or daughter to be able to access this

service from January 2015, you will need to register by

Friday 28 November 2014.

The cost for Spring term will be £230 (approximately £4.50 per

day) and is payable termly in advance.

To register, please email Sue Piggott:

spiggott@royalrussell.co.uk with your child’s name and House.

1853 Society Update With a newly enlarged committee we anticipate a busy year with some new events – of particular note are

a Comedy Night in the Spring Term , Race Night in the Summer Term and finishing off the year with a

Summer Ball in June. But first….

We look forward to welcoming you tomorrow at our Christmas Fair, which gets underway at lunchtime.

Apart from a spread of goodies on offer from outside suppliers, Houses and Class Reps, we will be

offering hot food to either have on-site or to take away, chips – how many cones…..? ever popular BBQ

plus a range of snacks, donuts, soft and hot drinks.

Lest we not forget why we are here, our younger visitors can visit Santa’s Grotto – this year in the Great

Hall, and the Secrets Room where parents are banned! Games for younger visitors are this year in the

classrooms under Great Hall.

Our AGM was on the 4Th November, and we recorded another successful year, AGM minutes are now

available on the website. I am delighted that joining the committee members who sought re-election, we

have 7 new members, parents with children in both Junior and Senior Schools. This takes the committee

to the largest it has been and reflects the whole school community, Parents, Staff, Guardians, Former

Students, even Grandparents… A full list of the committee can be found on the school website. I would

like to remind you that our meetings are open and we would be pleased to welcome anyone who would

like to come along and we always welcome any support or thoughts you may have. Meetings are

published in the school calendar. We have also made available minutes from the last two committee

meetings on the website.

We have had two committee meetings this term, the latest being the 11th November and we have agreed

the following events:

5th December: Mini Fair (in Junior School)

21st January Committee Meeting.

7th February: Quiz Night in Great Hall. Tickets for 200 include and evening Meal. Tickets will go on

sale in January.

21st March: Comedy Night.

Early May : Car Boot sale (Date tbc) - a day for thermals and umbrellas…..

16th May: Race Night

20th June: Summer Ball

Opening dates for the Coach House Uniform Shop appear regularly in the diary and on the notice board in

the Car Park. It is in the plan to refurbish the shop so that we can open more frequently and when dark.

Our main financial challenge for the coming year is we have agreed to fund £100,000 towards the new

Sports Pavilion. In addition the committee have just agreed to pay £1500 for new Music Stands for the

Music Department. However we don’t lose sight of the principal aim of the society: to act as a catalyst to

bring the whole school community together.

So, we look forward to seeing you soon, and as always a massive thanks for all your support.

Nigel Haigh

Chair

Diary Dates

Saturday 22 November 1853 Society Christmas Fair. 1.00pm to 4.00pm. All Welcome

Monday 24 November Year 8 Parents’ Evening

Wednesday 26 November Orchestra at Croydon Champions Awards Ceremony. Hilton, Croydon

Wednesday 26 November School Play ‘Wind in the Willows’. Auditorium. 7.30pm

Thursday 27 November School Play ‘Wind in the Willows’. Auditorium. 7.30pm

Friday 28 November School Play ‘Wind in the Willows’. Auditorium. 7.30pm

Friday 28 November Year 13 Photography Exhibition Trip

Friday 28 November Year 12 and 13 Chemistry Trip

Friday 28 November Year 10, 11 and 12 Christmas Food Exhibition

Sunday 30 November Advent Service. Chapel. 5.45pm. All Welcome

Monday 1 December Year 12 and 13 Politics Visit to Westminster

Tuesday 2 December Year 12 Trip to the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

Tuesday 2 December Sixth Form Tapas Night

Wednesday 3 December Year 12 Parents’ Evening. Great Hall. 5.45pm

We welcome your feedback. Please send to Ciara Campbell, Marketing and Communications Manager

email: ccampbell@royalrussell.co.uk

For all our latest news…….

Follow us @Royal_Russell and

@RRS_Sport

Royal Russell School Coombe Lane : Croydon : Surrey : CR0 5RF

www.royalrussell.co.uk 020 8657 4433